Love your Heart with a Vegan Diet

High cholesterol, heart disease and cardiovascular ailments are unfortunate side effects of Americans’ ongoing struggle with obesity – and all indications are that it’s mostly of our own doing. Although some genetic and other diseases (like diabetes) can lead to heart trouble, it’s primarily what we eat that contributes to our heart health, or lack thereof.

Why Plant Based?

A diet rich in green, leafy vegetables and have remarkable effects on improving heart health – one combined with a plant-based diet can do even more. Eliminating meat, eggs, dairy, and unnecessary oils from your diet virtually eliminates the harmful fats and bad cholesterol that can lead to heart disease.

How the Heart is Affected

Your heart’s endothelial cells pump out nitric oxide, which keeps blood vessels smooth so everything can flow without hindrance. Additionally, nitric oxide prevents inflammation of the arteries and reduces the chances of developing plaque on the arterial walls or blockages. Certain foods can help increase the production of nitric oxide, while others can have detrimental affects. Studies have shown that the foods which most reduce nitric oxide production include processed foods, meat, dairy, sugar, and coffee. Meanwhile, foods including whole grains, beans, fruit and colorful or green, leafy vegetables can increase nitric oxide production and improve cardiovascular healthy. Some examples of heart-healthy foods include bok choy, Swiss chard, kale, beet greens, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, green herbs, spinach and asparagus.

Taking the First Steps

Not everyone can go “cold turkey” when it comes to a complete overhaul of their diet, so try with small steps. Once you start to feel the results taking further action will be easy as you will have additional motivation. Take the first step by adopting Meatless Monday and cut out dairy. Other meals should include less harmful foods and more greens and colorful veggies. Take a look at what you consume on a daily basis, particularly snacks as we tend to assign them less importance than meals, even though we depend on them to keep our bodies fueled throughout the day. Trade unhealthy snacks for fresh veggies, hummus, healthy nuts or seeds.

What’s Next?

Take a look at some healthy, plant-based recipes for inspiration – you’ll be amazed at how delicious food can be without meat and dairy. Find new ways to introduce plant-based foods into your diet – salads, soups, smoothies, etc. In no time at all you’ll be embracing a plant-based diet and all the heart-healthy benefits it offers.

Best Categories of Plant-Foods to Protect Your Heart:

• Vegetables: Vegetables are magical—especially for your heart. Dark leafy greens, for example, are loaded with potassium, which helps control blood pressure, and antioxidants and phytochemicals to fight heart disease and other illnesses. Leafy greens like kale, spinach, and collard greens contain nutrients that assist your body in creating new copies of the cells that line artery walls. Healthy, elastic arteries, in turn, produce ample nitric oxide, a beneficial molecule that keeps your blood vessels dilated and relaxed.
  
  
• Fruits: Research suggests that eating fruit (in addition to fresh veggies) may cut the risk of heart disease in people with genetic risks. Their power lies in the various heart-protective compounds they contain. One of these compounds is quercetin, a phytonutrient found in apples, grapes, cherries, and berries, as well as some vegetables, that has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. And many fruits are potassium superstars, a mineral with the power to lower blood pressure. Vitamin C, an antioxidant vitamin common in fruits and some veggies, may protect against heart disease by relaxing arteries and stabilizing arterial plaque, thus preventing it from breaking off and causing a heart attack.
  
  
• Extra-virgin olive oil: Its beauty is that it comes packed with compounds that reduce inflammation of the arteries and decrease the formation of arterial plaque. Make this fat one of your main plant-based oils. A study from Greece, published in Clinical Cardiology in 2007, reported that the exclusive use of olive oil in cooking was linked to a 47 percent lower risk of acute coronary syndrome (sudden reduced blood flow to the heart), compared with not using olive oil.

• Nuts: Nuts have gotten a bad rap over the past few years, being touted as “high in fat” and calories. In reality, however, nuts eaten in moderation can have a variety of health benefits—including significantly improving your heart health. A few recent studies reported by Harvard have indicated that if you regularly consume nuts, you could reduce your risk of heart attack and heart disease. These larger studies show consistent results—consuming nuts daily (or at least a few times per week) can reduce heart disease and heart attack risk by 30 to 50 percent.

• Seeds: These are nutrition powerhouses. I love chia seeds and flaxseeds. Both give you omega-3 fats. Flaxseeds contain lignans, strong antioxidants, and cholesterol-lowering fiber.
  
  
• Grains: Various studies spotlight whole grains in heart disease prevention. In the 2000 Iowa Women’s Health Study, women with the highest intakes of whole grains had 30 percent less risk of heart disease, compared with women who ate fewer whole grains. Many components of whole grains have heart-protecting benefits: Whole grains contain more heart-protective antioxidants than refined grains, and both oats and barley are super sources of beta-glucan, a fiber that lowers blood cholesterol and improves insulin sensitivity.

• Legumes: Beans and legumes may give you more birthday candles. When researchers analyzed the diets of older adults in Japan, Greece, Sweden, and Australia, they found that the more legumes these folks ate, the longer they lived. And if you eat at least four servings of beans a week, you just might lower your risk of heart disease by 22 percent, according to a study of nearly ten thousand men and women in the United States. Beans are a treasure trove of many heart-protecting nutrients, including potassium, magnesium, folate, cholesterol-lowering fiber, and glucose-lowering resistant starches.
  
  

Vegan Meal Planner

If you are in need of a diet overhaul, consider our Meal Planner.  Our Meal Planner takes the guess work out of healthy eating and puts the power of convenience and taste at your fingertips.

Learn more about our meal planner here.